how do I help this salamander or mudpuppy?

[marinasalamander]

Hi everyone! I work at a marina and our bait company brought an aquatic salamander in the bait. I'm not sure if it is a tiger salamander or a mudpuppy. It appears to have 5 toes on the hind legs but is quite large. It is probably 8 or 9 inches from nose to tail.

Whatever it is, it looks to be in rough shape. The gills have been chewed up and there are parts missing from its tail. It had been in with fathead minnows since last Tuesday at the baitshop. I have it in an aquarium with some river rock, a few fake plants and a cork bark hide. I wasn't really setup for this little guy so this is very much temporary. I plan to get a filter and an aerator stone tonight.

I have tried to feed brine shrimp and nightcrawlers with no sucess. I have never kept one of these before. Can someone tell me what species this is and what kind of tank/care setup I need to get this animal healthy again?

I'll attach some photos. Again, this is just the tank we stuck him in at my work when he showed up with the bait.

Thank you!

 

[marinasalamander]

Photos

 

[minorhero]

Looks like a salamander to me, but I am admittedly bad at that game.

That said, regardless you should be doing 100% water changes every day until your tank cycles. Keep the water as cold as possible (put it in a basement, put a fan blowing on the surface). Feed it cut earth worms you dig up or buy, make sure the worms are smaller than half it's bodies length or it will struggle to eat them. If the worm dies in the tank and he still refuses to eat it remove the dead worm from the water within an hour. Good luck.

 

[frank beard]

That is a tiger salamander (Ambystoma tigrinum) larvae. Some populations remain larvae and don't metamorphose. The housing for a terrestrial adult is very different from a larvae so that is something to keep in mind.

 

[marinasalamander]

Looks like a salamander to me, but I am admittedly bad at that game.

That said, regardless you should be doing 100% water changes every day until your tank cycles. Keep the water as cold as possible (put it in a basement, put a fan blowing on the surface). Feed it cut earth worms you dig up or buy, make sure the worms are smaller than half it's bodies length or it will struggle to eat them. If the worm dies in the tank and he still refuses to eat it remove the dead worm from the water within an hour. Good luck.

Thank you! I will try the worms again when it has more time to settle.

 

[marinasalamander]

That is a tiger salamander (Ambystoma tigrinum) larvae. Some populations remain larvae and don't metamorphose. The housing for a terrestrial adult is very different from a larvae so that is something to keep in mind.

Thank you! I assume I should just house it in the aquarium until it shows signs that it is morphing? I have a cork bark hide in there currently. The bark is wedged so it is half submerged and half out of the water, so it could climb on that if it wanted to get out of the water. It does appear to come up for air periodically. I am planning on vastly improving its setup but have not had the time to get to the store yet (I just got him today).

 

[frank beard]

Yes, the aquarium should be fine for now. Just a warning, if it does start morphing, salamanders are not always as willing as you might think to climb up on things we place in aquaria -especially if there is nowhere to hide on the "land".

 

[marinasalamander]

Not a super exciting update but I got a little better setup for the salamander. He is doing better and is more active than when he first arrived. No luck with feeding night crawlers but he is eating mealworms. Thanks for the advice.